Method of dyeing textile fabrics



July 14, 1931.

A. J. BELOKOPYTOFF METHOD OF DYEING TEXTILE FABRICS Filed June 20, 1929 ALEXANDER J Baoxqpyrorr INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented July 14, W31

PATENT OFFICE,

ALEXANDER J. BELOKOPYTOFF, OF NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, T0 KATHERINE L. MAYEHOFF, OF NORWALK, CONNECTICUT METHOD OF DYEING TEXTILE FABRICS Application filed June 20,

My invention relates to methods of dyeing textile fabrics and has a particular reference to methods of producing multicolored designs on a printing surface and subsequently transferring these designs on a piece of textile fabric.

The object of my invention is to provide a method for producing artistic designs on printing beds by mechanical means and without the assistance of skilled artists.

For this purpose I prepare a printing bed by placing more or less large drops of a differently colored gelatinous like solution on a smooth surface of glass, metal, wood, etc. Drops of different colors are arranged in accordance with the requirements of a design. These drops are then worked with a more or less blunt tool, such as a wooden stick, or a plurality of sticks arranged in a row, so as to drag different colors in fancy streaks, thereby producing a definite pattern.

The designis then transferred on a piece of textile goods by a method similar to the one described in my copending application, Serial No. 332,963 filed Jan. 16, 1929.

My invention is more fully described in the accompanying specification and drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a View showing a printing bed prepared by my method, Fig. 2 is the same printing bed in the preliminary stage of operation, Fig. 3 is a side view of a printing bed with the rake, Fig. 'is a similar View in an other projection, Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show different methods of raking the colors on the printing bed, and Figs. 8 and 9 show typical designs obtained by my method.

T e printing bed is formed on a level surface of a piece of glass 1 or a similar material, impervious to water (such as marble, composition, impregnated wood, or wood covered with an oilcloth). The surface of the plate should be white in order to see the combinations of colors.

A colloidal gelatinous like solution is then prepared by dissolving in water such mate-v rials as Irish moss, gelatin etc., using excess of water in order to obtain a freely flowing thin solution. Where Irish moss is used theb0 gelatin-like solution preferably is made by 1929 Serial No. 372,266.

using one pound of moss and five gallons of water. This is boiled until the moss is thoroughly dissolved and then it is screened or filtered through a cloth and permitted to cool, when it forms into a freely' flowing, thin, jelly-like solution.

This solution is placed in several separate containers and in each container it is colored or dyed with suitable colors or dyes, preferably with aniline dyes, also with different shades of the same color. A portion of the solution in one container is left undyed in its natural state. The dyes used preferably comprise aniline dyes of the common commercial type in which three ounces of the dye may be dissolved in one gallon of water. After the dye is prepared in liquid form, varying amounts of this liquid are mixed with the gelatin-like solution, for example; eight parts of the gelatin-like solu tion may be mixed with one part of the dye liquid. If a lighter tone is desired, these proportions may be varied according to the desires of the user.

Such differently colored solutions are then poured in small portions 2 or placed in more or less large'drops on the surface of the supporting plate 1 as shown in Fig. 2. The drops may be of different sizes and may be placed in a certain order or at random depending on the nature of the design. They can be placed closely together to the extent of crowding each other in order to obtain a more. or less uniform gelatinous like surface. No special accuracy is required in this process, however, as with the subsequent working of the surface the solution becomes evenly spread distances were left between individual drops.

The solution must be of such density that the drops will form a layer of about 3" thick.

The gelatinous layer is then worked with a rake comprising a row of more or less blunt pins-3 mounted-on a bar 4. The character of the designproduced b my method depends to a large extent on t e character of movement imparted to the rake. For instance, it can be moved in straight lines 5 (Fig. 2) first in one direction, then, displacing it jsideover the plate, even if some ways, for instance, by the width of one drop 2,in another. Such transverse movement of the rake will cause the colors of different drops to merge into each other in sharp pointed streaks, the effect produced bein similar to the one shown in Fig. 1.

The design thereby obtained can be varied by changing the direction of raking, distance of side stepping between movements in opposite directions, or by changing the path of travel. Instead of straight lines, the

rake can be moved in curves, waves, spirals, figures 8 etc., some of the paths being illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 Combinations beiween curves and curves and straight lines produce again different results.

The gelatinous like solution must be sufficiently thick to prevent the different colors from mixing together, so that when the pins 3 drag some of the solution of one color into thevregion of another, colored streaks are obtained, growing thinner as one color becomes gradually lost in another color.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate some of the designs obtained by my method. One of the important advantages of my method is that it provides a means for producing artistic and fancy designs by purely mechanical means and can be practiced by persons with out any artistic training. The drops can be applied by some mechanical or, even, automatic devices, and similar automatic devices can be used for raking in any series of curves or lines.

The design is transferred from the printing bed onto a piece, of textile fabric bya process as described in my copending application specified above. The cloth is applied to the printing bed, and when the desi n penetrates to the other side of the cloth, it may, if desired, be fixed in a 20% solution of alum, removed from the printing bed, washed, dried and pressed with hot iron.

I claim as my invention: 7

1. The method of dyeing textile fabrics comprising placing a plurality of drops of dye-carrying gelatinous-like solutions upon' a supporting surface, each solution carrying a distinctive color dye,moving a mixing member through said drops to partially mix the same and produce a printing bed of predetermined types of color patterns, and laying a sheet of textile material on said printing bed to permit the dyes to enter said material.

2. The method of dyeing textile fabrics in fanciful patterns comprising placing on a supporting surface, a plurality of drops of gelatinous-like solutions to form a printing bed, each solution carrying a dye adapted to Droduce a distinctive color, drawinga blunt instrument through said drops in predetermined paths to cause said drops to comingle in fanciful patterns, permitting said drops to flow to a substantially level surface after being comingled, and laying a sheet of texmined path to produce predetermined types of fanciful designs and form a printing bed, laying a sheet of textile material upon said printing bed and permitting said material to absorb the dyes to transfer the predetermined designs to said fabric.

4. The method of dyeing textile fabrics in predetermined types of fanciful designs comprising forming a printing bed of viscous dye carrying material flowed upon a support V in predetermined zones of different dye colors, causing said viscous dye carrying material to comingle in predetermined types of fanciful patterns, and bringing a sheet of fabric into contact with said viscous material and permitting the dyes therein to soak into the fabric to transfer the patterns thereto.

5. The method of dyeing textile fabric in fanciful designs comprising forming a printing bed of viscous dye carrying material laid ona support in such manner as to provide adjacent zones of different colored dyes, causing the viscous material carrying different colored dyes to comingle to form predetermined types of patterns, and transferring said predetermined types of patterns to a sheet of fabric by laying the sheet of fabric on said dye carrying material and permitting the dye to enter the fabric.

Signed at Norwalk in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut this 16th day of May, A. D. 1929.

ALEXANDER J. BELOKOPYTOFF. 

